'Big Beach' lacks baywatch

WAILUKU Government officials are taking too long to get lifeguards posted at the state park at Makena, an area whose shorebreak at "Big Beach" is known for causing back and neck injuries, a Maui activist says.

Updated at 9:41 p.m., Wednesday, January 13, 2010Maui police identify man who drowned off MakenaPolice identified an Oregon man who drowned off the coast of Maui Tuesday as 49-year-old Jacob Pelta of Portland.Acting Lt. William Gannon of the Maui Police Department said Pelta and Ed Wallmark, 58, of Portland were swimming in the ocean at Little Beach in Makena when they encountered a set of waves 10 to 15 feet high.The two were then caught in a rip tide, according to The Associated Press.Gannon said lifeguards performed CPR on Pelta, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.Wallmark was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center and was listed in good condition, The Associated Press reported. Wallmark's mother, Dianne Wallmark, said he has two collapsed lungs.

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